


night, too, shall be beautiful

by justdoityoufucker



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Beautiful Boys In Love, M/M, Post-Naruto Canon, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 10:38:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15532425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justdoityoufucker/pseuds/justdoityoufucker
Summary: Shino knew, logically, that what he was about to do was very impulsive and probably reached Naruto-levels of stupid, but that didn’t stop him from sliding a hand under Kankurou’s cowl, pulling him into a kiss.





	night, too, shall be beautiful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Unseelieknight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unseelieknight/gifts).



> Setting context: set in some sort of alternate ending to the original Naruto series, where the war is over but the shinobi system is still in place (like Boruto) but is in the process of being dismantled. Some of it is taken from canon, but mostly I stepped off to make the world more realistic. I hope.
> 
> I started writing this over a year ago and originally intended for it to be a multi-chapter epic but (thought that might still happen with a different story about these two) that did not happen for this. Thank you Tash for your unending patience with me not finishing things for ages, love ya ♥

Going from Iwagakure to Sunagakure was a change in ecosystem three times over. From the dry steppes that made up most of the Land of Earth to the lush, river-seeded hills of the Land of Hills that separated the Land of Earth from the desert, and finally to the desert itself. Shino considered the micro-ecosystems between as he followed the rest of the delegation. Even though he was travelling to the desert as part of a diplomatic delegation visiting the five elemental countries, he was still first and foremost a Jounin of the Aburame Clan, and bugs and their habitats were more or less the first thing on his mind.

He and Temari, Sunagakure’s diplomat, were taking up the rear, and though he never offered conversation she occasionally spoke. She talked about Sunagakure, the situation there after the war, mentions of her brothers. She had spent the last year moving with the delegation, away from them, after all.

Shino couldn’t say that he really had an opinion of either of her brothers. He knew that Gaara had been the regimental commander of the Allied Forces in the war, and he’d been near him once or twice since their first Chuunin exams, but that was all. He was a good leader. Kankurou, on the other hand—his first impression of the other man, when they had still been genin, was rude. But after the war he didn’t rightly know.

He stopped considering that, though, as the group’s pace slowed. They had made good time. Within three weeks they had made it from Iwagakure to Sunagakure, no small feat of speed. As they came within sight of the massive rock structure that protected the city from the elements, the Kazekage and his guard emerged from the crevice that led into the city proper. It was about the same amount of a show of force as they had seen in the other hidden villages, and Shino largely ignored it. It wasn’t his job to collect information, it was his job to use his encyclopedic knowledge of Konohagakure’s interests and laws to make sure that the planning went smoothly.

They had an official welcome, and were scheduled to have a banquet in the evening. It gave them a few hours to rest and prepare after they were lead to their quarters.

He did like the rooms he was given to stay in. Everything was made of stone, worn smooth from human intervention and years of wind whistling through the sheltering rocks, but thick carpets softened the floors, and beneath the circle-shaped windows were potted plants. Caution and experience had him sending his bugs through the three rooms to ensure that nothing unsavory was waiting for him.

Nothing was, and he let out an inaudible sigh of relief. Safety after three weeks of travel meant he could sleep easy—or at least, easier. He would probably never sleep deeply until he was back in his own bed, and even then, too many people knew his face for him to really think himself safe.

But still, it was better than being in the open, so he tugged his pack and sand-logged coat off, slid his glasses off and let a stretch roll from his neck to the base of his spine. A shower would be good, and he had more than enough time.

-

With a mixed delegation bearing people from six different countries at least, Kankurou had a lot to worry about. The diplomats themselves could be quartered together, that wasn’t a problem, but there were still some people in Sunagakure who couldn’t be near them because of old grudges or other stupid reasons. There were security rotations to put together for their meetings and meals, patrols to schedule around the city, and then somebody had decided that he was the perfect person to be a messenger.

Whoever that person was, they were lucky they remained unknown, because he had to go and personally welcome each and every one of the diplomats, tell them where to meet at the specified hour, and make sure they were comfortable. He had a feeling it was Shijima, because Gaara would never do such a thing, but he couldn’t be sure. And if he wasn’t sure, that meant no homicide.

There was one diplomat left for him to talk to, the one from Konohagakure, and he really hoped that they didn’t need anything because the shinobi from Kumogakure had already requested ten more pillows and the Kirigakure diplomat didn’t blink at all during the five minutes they spoke. He likely knew the shinobi hailing from Konohagakure, anyway, and he hoped it would be someone easy to get along with.

So he approached the last used guest quarters with some trepidation, knocking lightly and waiting for a verbal answer before opening the door.

Aburame Shino. Of all the people it could’ve been, it had to be him. They were on neutral terms, really, not having talked to each other much since they were genin. He knew the other man had made it to Chuunin, but other than that, nothing.

He was caught slightly off-guard though, because for the first time ever he could see the entirety of Shino’s face, even his eyes before his black goggles were slipped back over his face. “Aburame-san, I came to welcome you to Sunagakure, as well as to inform you that somebody will be waiting in the hall at seven to guide you to dinner. Is there anything you need?”

“I will be fine,” Shino said, tipping his head a little in an almost-bow, and somehow the movement emphasized his jawline. “Thank you.”

Kankurou nodded, turned, and left, keeping his pace even despite the sudden swell of panic he was feeling. He sometimes thought about Aburame Shino, yes, because of their fight during the disastrous Chuunin Exams and his position as a diplomat. But, hot winds of the desert, he’d never given any thought to the man being attractive.

Holy  _ shit _ , Kankurou found Aburame Shino, Diplomat of the Hidden Village Konohagakure to the Allied Council on Chuunin Exams, attractive. 

Half of him wanted to go screaming out to his early death in the desert and half of him wanted to find Temari and cry on her. The two sides warred until he found himself further in the building, right next to the rooms that Temari used when she was in the city.

And thank fuck she was there and alone because the first strangled words out of Kankurou’s mouth were, “Temari, I love you and I need you to  _ kill me _ .”

She dropped the cup of tea she was holding. And, yeah, that was in character, because it was  _ Kankurou’s _ job to be level-headed,  _ Kankurou’s _ job to keep everything moving and make sure shit got done. But Kankurou was losing his goddamn mind, and she could see that.

“Ah, brother,” she looked from him to the sopping mess her dress had turned into, made a face, “It’s nice to see you, too?”

He collapsed on the floor, smacking his head on the rug-covered stone. “I’m gonna die, ‘mari,” he moaned, “I regret my entire life up until this point but most I regret today.”

“I mean, I do assume that you do a lot of regrettable things, ‘kuro,” she said, shucking her dress off and leaving for her bedroom to get a fresh, dry one, “but what brings this on?”

He knew in his heart and mind that he was going to regret saying anything to his sister, but he rolled to the side anyway, so he could see her through the arched doorway looking through her closet and said, “You know the diplomat from Konohagakure you brought with you?”

“Aburame-san?” she chose a dress, wrapped it, secured it on over her mesh armor and underclothes, and walked back out. “What about him?”

“He,” Kankurou pushed himself up on all fours, and finally managed to croak out, “is  _ so _ hot.”

He looked up to find Temari staring at him, and she slowly blinked once before dissolving into hysterics. “K-K-K-Kankurou!” she managed to wheeze.

“Please stop, it’s not funny, how am I going to deal with him now?” Kankurou begged, scooting so he was sitting seiza next to her. She calmed down surprisingly quickly.

“B-brother,” she said, placing her hands firmly on his shoulders, inhaling and exhaling deeply before continuing, “I don’t know what to say. Congratulations?”

“No!” he yelled right into her face.

-

Most of the diplomatic workings that Shino was involved in were easy and had already been mostly dealt with by the time the mixed delegation had left Konohagakure. They were on the last leg of the diplomatic journey to hammer out the specifics of the Chuunin Exams, a journey that had wound from the Land of Fire through the other shinobi countries.

He had begun to understand why Temari had so looked forward to reaching Sunagakure. He missed home, if only because home meant familiarity and the chance to actually relax. The other delegates were nice and they all got along, but after a year with them and only them all the time he was beginning to chafe. That added to all of the state banquets and weeks of hard travelling, and Shino was ready to be home.

The morning after the banquet and their welcome, he awoke early; usual time, different place. And he was awake, even though there were hours still till they were expected for the morning meal. Temari had mentioned practice fields, though, and he pulled on fresh clothes with those in his mind. It wouldn’t hurt to go train, keep his body as sharp as his mind.

Walking in silence, he found the fields she had mentioned easily. They were under the overhang of the walls, dug out from the packed stone there. Four practice yards, all squared together and even though it was an early enough hour that most people were asleep, there was someone else there. He didn’t exactly want to deal with another person, so he turned and began to leave.

But—he heard the now-familiar clicking of a wood puppet, and that gave him pause. He turned back and kept to the shadows, moving only close enough to make out Kankurou’s form. The Suna shinobi was working with three different puppets at once, two of them almost human sized, the third with a larger body and a long tail of iron plates.

The man was without his usual black uniform, instead wearing the light pants and sleeveless shirt that most ninja wore when training. Even the familiar purple face paint was gone, and Shino felt his back go ramrod straight as he watched the man work the puppets from one end of the field to the other, muscles in his arms and back moving with the motions.

Then he turned, facing the wall that Shino was standing in front of but not seeing him, and the inside of Shino’s stomach felt like a few dozen moths freshly emerged from their pupae.

Because Kankurou was, from a completely subjective standpoint, breathtaking. Shino didn’t make a study of people—he generally didn’t much like them unless he had to be involved with them—but he was sure that if he had, Kankurou would be the pinnacle of whatever worldwide standard of beauty there was, the top of the beauty pyramid.

Good gods, what was he thinking.

Shino stayed for only another minute before slipping back into the shadows, returning to his room through the rounded corridors. He almost felt ill from what his stomach was doing, and he hoped that the silence and peace would make that stop.

It didn’t stop. He spent the entire day forcing himself to completely ignore Kankurou so he could get work done, and was for the most part successful. But that only really happened when Kankurou was not in the room. By the time they had finished dinner and Shino had retired, he had acutely realized that he was  _ in it, _ and deep, at that.

Shino had never felt attracted to another person in such a way. Sure, he related to and loved his former teammates as if they were something like family, and felt much the same toward the rest of his comrades, but romantic or sexual attraction? And toward a man he hadn’t seen in years who lived in a completely different village? Whatever the case, it would not do to dwell over it; he went to bed.

The next morning he did not wake up as early, and when he had woken he didn’t go down to the practice fields. Instead, he called all of his bugs to him to learn about Sunagakure. They had plenty of time the last day and a half to explore the windy city while Shino had remained inside at the meetings, and Shino got all sorts of information from them. Information about the types of animals and bugs living in the sand and stone, the scrubby, hardy plants that survived the heat and the lack of water, and the people who managed to likewise survive, day after day.

Over the past day he had found that he almost preferred the heat of the desert. It was dry and windy, unlike the hot, sticky heat of late summer in Konohagakure, and despite the harshness of the wind, there was something about the village that made him want to remain, watch the seasons pass.

Talks commenced earlier than the day before, and Shino was spent most of his time being very, very thankful that Konohagakure and Sunagakure got on well. With that factored into the early decisions, there was very little disagreement from the Council or the Kazekage on most of the points they had already settled, quite a change from from some of the other villages they had travelled to. Quite a relief, as well.

They had a few hours to themselves in the afternoon, before dinner, and using the information gleaned from his bugs that morning, Shino decided to go for a walk. They weren’t banned from going anywhere, and he noticed that he wasn’t the only one leaving the building for air. Two shinobi from the Land of Earth were heading further into the city, but he instead turned toward the outer perimeter of it. Information from his beetles had shown him a path to the outer wall, and that was where he went. Nobody stopped him, and the guards standing at watch merely nodded in acknowledgement.

The walking itself did a lot to clear his head of all the muck that was stuck in it. The wind was harsher up there, above the city, the air itself clearer in a way. As Shino continued hiking up the deftly carved stairs, the feeling that he had had earlier in the day about wishing to stay in Sunagakure increased.

The trail up the cliff terminated, after many staircases, atop the sharp edge overlooking the village to the north, and the desert to the south. Nearly immediately, a harsh gust of wind sent him almost completely toppling over.

“Ah, Aburame-san!” a familiar voice called, and Shino’s sight was temporarily blurred by a gust of wind spraying sand at him. Once he did regain sight, he found Kankurouu standing in front of him.

Kankurou held a hand out, and Shino hesitantly accepted it. He was hefted up, and Kankurou said, sounding a mix of regretful and sorry, “I should’ve warned you about that—since we’re so high up, the wind can get pretty vicious.”

Shino nodded, then found his attention taken by the view.

“Sunagakure is beautiful,” he said, turning in from the view of the desert to look at the village. From above the city was a patchwork of stone, scrubby plants, and the beautiful thick fabrics that stretched between buildings as shades.

“You really think so?” Kankurou asked, thinly veiled curiosity coloring his voice.

Shino glanced away from the village to look at Kankurou. The other man was considering the village as well. His face was unreadable. “It’s very different from Konohagakure, but it is a place I would not mind living,” Shino said. He didn’t know why the hell he said that; Kankurou glanced at him sidelong.

“Not many would say that,” his voice was warm. Shino could feel his face getting warm, and it took some concentration to not visibly blush. So much for not thinking about Kankurou. They continued standing next to each other for a few moments in silence, before Kankurou spoke again. “I hear that this is the last stop your delegation makes, before the meeting in the Land of Iron.”

Shino nodded. “We return to Konohagakure in two days; then we go on to the Land of Iron and finally we can return home. The Kazekage will be attending the summit?”

Kankurou nodded; somehow, the discussion turned to Konohagakure, and before Shino even realized they had been standing there talking for near on an hour. He knew it was a bad sign, but he genuinely found himself enjoying Kankurou’s company in addition to the enjoyment he found simply by being in Sunagakure. 

He finally admitted he needed to leave when the sun began disappearing in the west. He had stayed far longer than intended, and though he had enjoyed it all the while he did feel the need for some alone time.

Again, a gust of wind caught him, sending him headlong into Kankurou with its force. Gods, maybe he needed to start eating more.

As if knowing what he was thinking, Kankurou righted him, said, “You weigh nothing, have they been feeding you at all?”

That earned a surprised bark of laughter from Shino, and he was viscerally aware of Kankurou’s hand still hovering on his elbow. Shino knew, logically, that what he was about to do was very impulsive and probably reached Naruto-levels of stupid, but that didn’t stop him from sliding a hand under Kankurou’s cowl, pulling him into a kiss.

-

Kankurou watched Shino leave, still in shock. Well--not exactly shock, but surprise and the wish that he would stay. Gods, they were leaving in two days, when the hell would he see Shino again? And-- _ wait _ , did that mean Shino liked him in return? What the hell was happening?

Thankfully, nobody on the cliff had seen them, and once he was sure that somebody else was in charge--his shift on duty having ended half an hour before--he went again to seek out his sister. While staying discreetly in the shadows, because he was fairly sure his face paint had been mussed.

Temari was again in her rooms, reading what looked like a letter. She didn’t even bother looking up when Kankurou entered, merely asked, “What did you do now?”

Then she did look up, and half-yelped when she saw the mess that was Kankurou’s face. Without another word, she disappeared back into the bathroom.

“Temari,” Kankurou said, gratefully accepting the wet cloth she waved in front of his face to take the rest of his smeared face paint off. “Thanks.”

“Mm,” she took the cloth back once he was done, and seemed to almost radiate annoyance and the need to know why his face paint was messed up as she put the kettle on the small element of the half-stove and pulled down mugs and a teapot. “Talk.”

“We might’ve, uh,” without the paint on his face, Kankurou knew it was painfully obvious that he was blushing, but he couldn’t stop.

Temari stopped, stared at him. “Please tell me you did not just imply what I think you’re implying,” she said, deadpan.

He blinked at her, and damn, his neck and ears felt  _ hot _ . “I-I mean we didn’t do anything bad, just.”

“No, really, don’t continue, please,” Temari said, “I don’t want to know. Did anyone see you?”

“No? Why?” he finished rubbing his face clean, looked at her. 

“Kankurou, listen to me,” Temari said, and her voice meant business, so he straightened and accepted the cup of tea she thrust into his hands. “You are one of the most eligible bachelors in Sunagakure, and though you’ve successfully gotten the Council off your back about getting married and popping out ten children, there’s still pressure for you to. From my time in Konoha, I understand that Aburame-san likewise has a similar pressure on him because of his status as the son of a clan leader.

“The best solution for you both is to marry nice young women from your villages, but considering the fact that Aburame-san has, uh, not expressed interest in that and you are head over heels in love with him, the next-best solution would be for you to marry each other,” she said. “But, there’s also the problem of me marrying into the Nara Clan.”

He held back a sigh, guessing where she was going with this whole talk. “Gaara’s going to have to deal with marrying somebody from the Land of Wind and when he does, you won’t have to worry about anything, but,” she slid back in her chair and sighed, “Until then, tread carefully. What did happen to that girl that they were looking at for him?”

“Err,” he relaxed slightly at the change in topic, “Didn’t you hear? She was killed by her bodyguard. I don’t know if they’ve got him set up again yet.”

He left Temari’s rooms feeling better but also worse. Better because it always felt good to talk about troubles with another person, worse because there was no real answer to his dilemma.

There were beetles in his room when he returned, having double-checked the patrol rosters and talked to Baki about Gaara’s guard. Beetles were surprisingly not a common sight in Sunagakure, unlike the wasps and ants and scorpions that were usually on or in the walls.

Despite the general apathy of both of his siblings towards insects in general, Kankurou had always been mildly fascinated by the small, hardy creatures who thrived in the middle of the unforgiving desert. That interest had only grown after his encounter with Shino during their botched mission, and as Kankurou considered the small black beetles happily eating the leaves of one of the plants growing on the windowsill of his small living room, he wondered if he’d already fallen for Shino then.

That thought earned a long sigh and a forlorn glance at the beetles again. He needed to go to sleep, because he had to deal with the council and the delegation in the morning. So he left a lamp on, just in case the beetles needed the light, and pulled his clothes off as he slowly made his way to bed.

-

Konoha was in the midst of spring when at last Shino returned with the rest of the Chuunin Exam entourage. With the last of the Chuunin Exam problems hammered out, all of them could return to normal life, or, well, life as usual. Their run around the shinobi nations let them lay the groundwork for all future Chuunin Exams, so never again would a group of diplomats have to do that. Future problems could be solved at the usual Hokage Summits or by the Shinobi Union.

It was a load off of his shoulders, at least, and for the first time in nearly a year, he could relax.

Not that he did, really. As soon as he was back and relieved from his duties as a diplomat, he was officially assigned a genin team to oversee. Part of him appreciated being busy again, but part of him also wished for something of a break. 

The kids though--the kids were wonderful. Part of him had always wanted to be a teacher, though it wasn’t something that he had really realized until after the war, and then he had been sent off away from Konohagakure. To return to Konoha and have that realization turned to reality--that did feel good.

Had the world been perfect, Shino wouldn’t have Kankurou on his mind through everything. Sadly, the world wasn’t perfect. Or--maybe, maybe it was. Maybe he needed to think about Kankurou and get over it, whatever  _ it _ was.

Who was he kidding, he knew he wasn’t going to get over whatever he felt about Kankurou. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, the saying went, and Shino was painfully aware of the truth in that statement. Despite his refusal to think about the other man willingly, he often found his thoughts turning to him. The last time he had seen Kankurou was at their send off, acting as Gaara’s guard, but more memorable was the more private goodbye between the two of them. It was strange, that he felt so comfortable moving so quickly with Kankurou. He couldn’t even think of telling Kiba or Hinata what had transpired between them in an out-of-the-way alcove in the administration building. Kankurou, cowl off and clothes disheveled, lips reddened from kisses; it was that image of him that Shino kept in his mind as the months passed and he settled back into life in Konohagakure.

-

Miyamoto Airi was the heiress of the Miyamoto family, and Kankurou looked over Temari’s shoulder at the dossier she had put together on the woman. “She’s so,” he struggled to find an appropriate word, “delicate-looking.” With big, dark brown eyes and honey-colored hair, he couldn’t imagine her going on the twenty B-Class missions her file said were successes.

Temari leaned back and fixed a stern eye on him, said, “She’s not so delicate when she’s destroying new genin on the practice courts, believe me. She helped train medic-nin for a few years, but since she’s the only child of her family and her father’s been ill, she’s mostly withdrawn herself from her ninja duties the past couple years.”

“Hm,” he still wasn’t particularly inclined to think of her as a good match, but whoever Gaara decided to marry was who he decided to marry. Even though it really wasn’t by choice. She sounded at least likeable, though, so there was that.

“It’s not like either of us have a choice in this matter,” Temari reprimanded, rolling the papers and whacking Kankurou across his forehead protector. “Don’t you have work to be doing? I need to go find out where their date is, I’m Gaara’s guard for it.”

“Sure, sure,” Kankurou stood and stretched, yawning as he pulled his jacket back on. Most of the Counter-Terrorism operations were not lead by him but they were still working on locating the cell that Kajūra had mentioned. Not to mention training squads sent from other countries in their techniques, and working with those same other countries.

In the back of his mind, though, he couldn’t help hoping that the Miyamoto woman would be it, that Gaara would settle down with her. There, in the back of his mind, behind even those thoughts, was the hope, however small, that he would get to see Shino again.

-

It wasn’t normal for Shino to receive guests, but when he returned home after a particularly grueling day returning from a solo A-rank, there was someone sitting on the couch in his living room. In his locked apartment. But the beetles who had remained through the day had not raised an alarm, so he figured it was Kiba or Hinata.

He...was wrong.

Of all people, he didn’t expect to find Kankurou there, but he was. Strange, that he didn’t mind it. Strange that it seemed normal.

-

Missions took a general schedule, at least those that involved passing through the Land of Fire. He would leave Sunagakure, travel wherever he was needed and complete whatever objectives presented to him. Most often it was catching missing-nin for other villages.

On his way back to Sunagakure, he would inevitably end up in Konohagakure, in one particular corner-apartment in the jounin dorms. It was routine, and those moments he could share with Shino, however brief, were strangely comforting.

They spent time in silence, of course, enjoying each others company in more...carnal manners. But they talked, and Kankurou found himself with a rather intimate knowledge of Konohagakure and the Aburame Clan in particular. Similarly, Shino likely learned more of the affairs of Sunagakure than he ever thought he would.

It was an easy relationship, though they never really talked of it. To label it--that would mean it was real, not just stolen moments in his travels.

-

The chill morning air was heady, not something that Kankurou would be used to, being from Sunagakure, but Shino opened the window anyway, leaned one elbow on the sill as he sat in his bed. The thin curtains whipped in the air for a moment, then settled, and he yawned.

Six months. They’d been sharing in this strange dance for six months.

The only indication Kankurou was waking up was his arm tightening around Shino’s waist, the way his breath picked up. “You don’t need to be up,” Shino said, his hand unconsciously rising to sift through Kankurou’s thick brown hair.

“Then neither do you,” Kankurou murmured against his waist.

They fell to comfortable silence as the purplish morning light began to slide up the wall of the room.

“I will not be able to return for a while,” Kankurou said, digging his fingers gently into Shino’s hip. A pause. “Gaara is. Well. Both of my siblings are to be married, and the end of the year means more politics.”

Shino couldn’t help a small sigh. Kankurou’s presence was reassuring and different--in a good way. He wasn’t overly loud like Kiba or depressingly unsure like Hinata, and he cared for Shino in a way that nobody really did. “Temari-san’s wedding will be here?” he asked, quiet.

“Mm.” Affirmative. “Things should settle down after that.”

Silence again, Kankurou’s fingers rubbing circles on his bare hip, Shino’s hands carding through Kankurou’s soft hair.

\- 

He’d made it back from a mission, and had promptly made the worst mistake he could have: challenging his future sister-in-law to a spar.

It had ended much too quickly, and Kankurou laid on the ground, panting, while Temari walked down the length of the practice field to where he was. He’d already re-sealed the puppets, and nobody else remained. Airi was, true to what Temari had said, terrifying. Her only problem, in regards to being a ninja, was that she was too nice, but really he considered that a good thing. The thought of someone like her serving with him was not a good one.

“So, any thoughts?” Temari asked, leaning on her closed fan as he forced himself to sit up, then stand.

“I like her,” he said, almost disbelievingly.

Temari watched as he picked up his scrolls, returned them to the sling on his back. “It’s hard not to,” Temari commented with a slight frown on her face, which smoothed into a half-smile, “You know, I think she is a good choice.”

Hours later, he clapped his hands together after dropping the rolled wad of ryou into the grill of the donation box, Temari doing the same next to him. Gaara and Airi were at the other, standing quite close as they prayed to their ancestors. Kankurou shared a knowing look with his sister. The council had set the official wedding date to take place before the new year, with a proper celebration when spring came. As he watched his little brother and future sister-in-law leave ahead of them, hands twining together, Kankurou thought that the rush was probably worth it.

The crowds parted for them and their ANBU shadows, so they made good time getting back to their quarters. The Council was out for the weeks between the Saṃsāra Festival and the conclusion of the New Year’s festivities. There was no work to be done in that time, but Kankurou didn’t exactly have time to rest.

Temari was to be wed a week into the new year, which meant that a delegation from Sunagakure would be leaving as soon as initial festivities were over. He and Gaara would be going both as her family and as officials of Sunagakure and the Land of Wind as a whole, leaving Baki to run Sunagakure for a full week with the Council.

He wasn’t worried about them; Baki was experienced and level-headed and the Council was healthy mix of young and old. There was a slight kernel of worry in his stomach about his own traveling party, because though they were going with Shijima and Airi, as well as three ANBU at the behest of the Daimyo, they were also bringing the Daimyo’s representative with them. Kankurou had a feeling it was going to be more than just one person, too.

-

Shino was not present when the delegation from Sunagakure arrived, but it was hard to miss the uproar in the city as he and his team returned from training outside the wall. For two families from the different countries to intermarry was a big deal, and both of them being well-knowing and important families made it an even bigger deal.

Shino found he didn’t care much about that, not when Kankurou was in the village and they’d already agreed to meet. In fact, his beetles notified him as he crossed the wall back into the village, someone was already waiting in his dorm. A fact further reinforced by by the rare but not unwelcome hug he was pulled into as soon as he slipped inside.

“Missed you,” he said into Kankurou’s shoulder without thinking.

But, he thought as he turned red and Kankurou pulled him, if possible, closer, it was true.

-

Days before the wedding, Kankurou sat in the sparse garden of the house they were staying in and tried to convince himself not to go find Shino. They’d spent the nights together--Sasori serving as a substitute for Kankurou at the house--but for some reason he didn’t want it to be limited just to nights. Shino was just someone he wanted to spend time with. All his time.

He was so entrenched in his sentimental thoughts that he didn’t notice the presence of the other two until the oversized mutt barked right in his face.

Kiba. Hell. He’d heard a lot from Shino about Kiba and most of that information had just gone to tell him he needed to avoid the other man at all costs. Case in point, the situation he had found himself in.

“Hm.” Kankurou got the distinct feeling that his worthiness as a person and a shinobi was being judged by the Inuzuka’s hard stare. “So. You’re the one whose smell is all over my boy Shino?”

Kankurou didn’t say anything to that because, honestly, he just couldn’t think of anything to say. The Inuzuka were terrifying anyway, but this particular one looked ready to kill him.

“You know, I get that,” the Inuzuka dropped into a squat so his oversized dog could rest its head on his shoulder, but kept his eyes locked on Kankurou’s face, “You ever seen him smile?”

“Yeah,” Kankurou said, and couldn’t really help how it came out sort of breathy and laden with emotion. Shino’s smiles could cure terminal illness. They could power all of Konohagakure and Sunagakure for decades. He was maybe a little over the top but the point was there; Aburame Shino’s rare smiles were a beautiful thing to behold.

The Inuzuka had a knowing grin on his face, and the expression turned a little dopey as he glanced up at the clouds overhead, “Yeah, like the fucking sun.”

Kankurou nodded fervently.

“Well,” the Inuzuka sighed, looked down from the sky and focusing his eyes right on Kankurou again, “he’s more than capable of taking care of himself, and you obviously do like him.” He shrugged, and when he grinned his dog did as well, two mouths full of sharp teeth aimed directly at Kankurou. “If you do hurt him in any way, however—”

“Kiba!” came a call from direction of the house, and a woman with long purple hair peeked around the bamboo fence, a gentle smile on her face. “Oh, are you busy?”

“Nah,” he waved a hand, gesturing for her to come back into the garden as well.

She slipped in, coming to a stop near them and bowing to Kankurou. “Kankurou-san, I am glad to see you made it here well. I’m sorry for interrupting, but I needed to find Kiba.”

Kiba made an unimpressed noise, stood, and asked, “Academy?”

“Yes,” she smiled at the long-suffering look that came onto Kiba’s face. “It shouldn’t take long. I’m sorry for taking him, Kankurou-san.”

“It’s okay.” Purple hair and white eyes, she had to be one of the Hyuuga--Hinata, he thought. He vaguely remembered meeting her before, but his life since Gaara became Kazekage was just a long line of people he needed to meet. “Ah, Hyuuga-san, was it?”

She bowed, smiled, and held a hand out for Kiba to catch. “It was nice to see you, Kankurou-san,” she said, turning to wave as they left the garden.

“Good talk!” called back Kiba when they were well on their way, followed by another feral grin.

Kiba sat down on the bench, leaned back against the plum tree behind him, and didn’t move until Temari found him almost an hour later. By that time his head was stuck in a crook between two branches and he had accepted his fate.

“Kankur—what the hell are you doing?” she asked, sounding more annoyed than worried. “You’re going to get stuck there.”

A gargling sort of noise left his throat that was in no way an answer to the question she had asked, but there was no way he was going to actually answer that question. She spoke again, with more concern, “Are you alright?”

“Gnh,” he managed, popping his head out from between the branches, “I’m fine. I’m great.”

She leveled a concerned, judgmental look at him, but he didn’t elaborate. How was he supposed to tell her that one of Shino’s friends gave him a shovel talk while simultaneously extolling the beauty of Shino’s smiles? She’d never even seen him smile, she wouldn’t understand.

“Konohagakure is weird,” he settled on that, and admittedly it did encompass how he was feeling. Since coming to Konohagakure he’d been caught off-kilter by more things than he would have liked to admit.

The concern lessened, and Temari rubbed her neck with one hand and sighed, “Gaara should be back soon. What were you thinking for dinner?”

-

All good luck available to them had apparently been used up, Shino dimly thought as he walked silently down the dingy hall. The wedding had gone okay; Shino hadn’t been invited but it had been a small affair and few had been invited. But after the wedding--after the wedding all hell had broken loose.

He’d been at home, the Aburame house, for dinner with his family when the beetles he’d planted in Kankurou’s things (with his consent, of course) completely lost contact. That was strange enough, but then the yelling started. The Aburame house, or at least the main house, was close to the heart of the city, and the yelling appeared to be coming from nearby.

When they arrived on the scene, they arrived to disaster the size of at least two countries. A rogue shinobi or team of had infiltrated the wedding and, when failing to abduct the Kazekage or Tsunade, had settled on taking several lesser shinobi.

One of which being Kankurou.

Somehow Shino managed to get himself placed on the retrieval squad. The logical part of his brain told him it was for a reason, something to do with bugs, but he found himself unable to focus on anything other than the fact that Kankurou had been taken and there was a possibility he had been killed despite only a few hours having passed and--

He had been vaguely aware of Kiba hugging and reassuring him, and then forest and more forest and finally a massive stone building that expanded into an entire complex underground.

They had split up because it was such a large building, and according to his beetles and Kiba and Akamaru’s noses, the captive shinobi had been split up. Haruno Sakura walked with him a ways, until they found one of the Konoha shinobi that had been taken. The bugs told him there was someone else on the way he was going, so with a promise to alert her if he intercepted the enemy, Shino left Sakura and continued down the dank passageways.

It was eerily quiet, no sign of animals but for his own insects. He kept them close, and finally reached another closed door that opened with nothing but a gentle push. And Shino’s heart, which had felt empty since he learned the news, felt as though it had begun to return to its normal spot in his chest. 

“Hey,” Kankurou croaked. Though he was dehydrated, had several days’ worth of stubble on his face, and was badly in need of new bandages on the myriad of wounds crossing his right arm and chest, he still managed to be the most beautiful thing that Shino had ever seen. He limped forward and half-fell against Shino’s shoulder, and Shino wasn’t even surprised when his own arms automatically went to hold the other man up.

“Hey,” Shino answered, gently turning Kankurou’s face to look in his eyes. “Can you walk or…?”

Kankurou tested his leg gingerly, winced, and shook his head. “Broke some of the bones in my foot, and I don’t know why I can’t keep, uh, balanced. They gave me something,” his voice got a little higher as Shino turned around crouched, motioning for him to climb on. Shino was by no means weak, so carrying Kankurou would be relatively easy.

Well, it would’ve been easy had Kankurou’s face not been all but pressed against the side of his neck. While they had shared their moments, it had been a while, and in such a place--

“Team?” Kankurou asked, jerking Shino out of his thoughts as they left the squalid room and turned down the long hallway to leave.

“Five of us,” Shino said, “Hyuuga Hanabi, Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Kamano Saisu. A squad of shinobi are on their way to assist with retrieval.”

“More’n us?” Kankurou asked, rubbing his nose against Shino’s shoulder. Shino shuddered and tightened his grip around Kankurou’s legs. The hall was long, and there was a dampness to the place that was beginning to make him feel chill, even though that was not why he had shuddered. His insects had scoured the place, and other than the prisoners, there seemed to be nobody else in the massive, sprawling structure.

“Two of the people from the Daimyo that came with you to Konohagakure, and two Konoha shinobi,” Shino said in a level tone.

“Fuck,” Kankurou said, beginning to sound faint, “’m glad it was you. Love you, Sh’no.”

Shino stopped, standing stock-still in the middle of the hallway. He waited for there to be something else, but Kankurou was well and truly unconscious. He…?

That was too much; he pushed it to the back of his mind. It was more important to get Kankurou to safety.

-

He’d been in the hospital in Konoha under Haruno Sakura’s care for a week when Shino finally stopped by. Of course, he understood; the majority of still active shinobi in both Konohagakure and Sunagakure had mobilized to hunt down the people who had taken him and the others. But,  _ still _ . He lived in the damn city.

Shino looked like hell when he sat down, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with both hands.

“Hey,” Kankurou said.

Those dark eyes peeked over his pale hands. “Hey.” Even his voice was rough, tired.

“You okay?” Kankurou asked.

A slight lift of his shoulders. More or less. “Haven’t slept much,” he said. “Too much work to get done.”

“Done?” Kankurou echoed. Shino nodded, dropping his hands from his face. There was something in his eyes, something unsure.

Sakura said he had been given some sort of hallucinogen alongside a sedative, so his memories of what had happened were...spotty. At best. That was the first thing he could think of, that something had happened while he had been drugged. He remembered Sakura being there, and Shino, but further he could not recall.

“What happened when we were rescued?” he asked after a few minutes of mostly-comfortable silence.

Shino’s eyes snapped up from the patch of floor he’d been contemplating. It seemed to Kankurou’s eyes that the other man was embarrassed for some reason. “Shino,” he pressed, reaching out and taking his hand, “please?”

Despite the expression on his face and his bearing, Shino squeezed his hand. “You weren’t in your right mind,” he said, voice low. His face began to flame a pinkish red, but he mustered to continue, “You said--you were glad it was me.”

“I am,” Kankurou said, somewhat confused. Nothing to be embarrassed over.

Shino looked at him, then, and Kankurou finally placed the look in his eyes. Anxiety. “You said you love me.”

He looked away again; but Kankurou, his heart nearly full to bursting, reached up, turned Shino’s face to him. “I wasn’t out of my mind,” he said, and he meant it. Though he couldn’t remember the words in detail, it was something he knew to be true. “Shino.”

“Hm,” Shino looked at him, and the anxiety was there, and something that looked like terror but also something like hope.

“I love you,” Kankurou said, glad to be aware of his confession this time.

Shino melted into his hand, hope and something warm, something fond in his eyes. “I mean it,” Kankurou added, probably unnecessarily.

“I know,” Shino said.

Kankurou couldn’t help it; as much as it pulled at his other shoulder, he tugged Shino forward, pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss.

“Someone might see us,” Shino murmured, sliding a hand up to lightly press his fingers against the side of Kankurou’s face. 

“Are you really worried about that?” Kankurou asked, serious. It was no big deal, now both of his siblings are happily and legally taken, but Shino was an intensely private person, and Kankurou didn’t want to take the choice away from him.

The hint of a smile tugged on Shino’s lips. Kankurou counted that as a win. “Not really,” he admitted. And they leaned together again, smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Omake: Sakura is on rounds, her feet aching as she checks clipboards and makes small-talk with nurses and patients alike. She's almost done; her last two patients are situated on the second floor and then she can go drink the shitty coffee in the cafeteria and pretend like she doesn't need sleep.  
> Kankurou is under her care and, for all that she has not talked with him since their disastrous mission to retrieve Gaara, before the war, he's fun. And funny, even when she's checking his blood pressure. She stops outside the glass-paned door separating him from the rest of the ward, shifts through her notepad to see if there is anything she had left for the nurses to note. Pain meds still, of course, but that's it. She slides the notebook into her breast pocket and glances into the room to check if he's awake.  
> Oh. Oh, he's awake, and if Sakura isn't hallucinating from lack of sleep that's Shino sitting next to the bed, his face cupped by Kankurou's hands. She turns on her heel and figures that there haven't been any changes noted already, she might as well get that coffee.  
> But as she's walking down the stairs, she can't help but be amazed that, even though the two of them looked exhausted, they were absolutely beautiful together.


End file.
